Dalbar today congratulated investment, broker/dealer and life insurance firms who have delivered industry-leading service in 2004. Through rigorous testing of service delivery throughout the year, Dalbar identifies those mutual fund, broker/dealer, annuity, life insurance and retirement plan providers that are able to exceed the service level expected by customers.
Hartford Life stands out as the only firm to be recognized for excellence in service to financial professionals, mutual fund investors, insurance policyholders, retirement plan participants and 9 consecutive years of top honors for service to annuity contract holders.
Putnam Investments earned customer service awards in four categories, including 13 years of service excellence to mutual fund investors and 8 years of service excellence to annuity contract holders as well as pre-sale and post sale support to financial professionals.
New York Life achieved top honors for excellence in service to annuity contract holders. Mainstay Investments achieved top honors in service to mutual fund investors as well as pre-sale and post-sale support to financial professionals.
Seligman Funds has achieved 8 years and Evergreen Investments has achieved 7 years of top honors for the service they deliver to mutual fund investors, while Pacific Life has achieved 7 years of service excellence to annuity contract holders.
“Whether it be regulatory scrutiny, a bull market or a bear market, and/or industry scandals, these firms have proven their unwavering service commitment to customers,” said Kathleen Whalen, Executive Director of Dalbar's Process Evaluation Division.
The service awards are based on systematic testing of customer service over the year. Dalbar uses thousands of tests to measure how financial companies respond to the needs for service from their customers. Companies that exceed a variety of industry benchmarks after one year of testing earn the Dalbar Service Award. The following firms were recipients of Dalbar's 2004 Service Award. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of times the organization has earned the Service Award.
Mutual Funds Evergreen Investments (7) Guardian Investor Services (2) The Hartford (2) Transamerica/IDEX (5) JPMorgan – One Group (4) Lord, Abbett & Co. (3) Nations Funds (6) Mainstay Investments (4) Primerica Shareholder Services (2) Putnam Investments (13) RS Investments (1) Seligman Funds (8) State Street Research (5)
Annuities American Express Financial Group (1) Guardian Insurance & Annuity (4) The Hartford (9) MainStay Annuities (5) New York Life (2) Pacific Life (7) Prudential Financial (5) Putnam Investments (8) Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (1) Travelers Life & Annuity (1)
Life Insurance Hartford Life Insurance (4)
Retirement Plans The Hartford (2)
Financial Intermediaries – Post-Sale 1st Global (2) Goldman Sachs (5) The Hartford (3) JPMorgan Funds (6) Lord, Abbett & Co. (2) Manulife (2) Mainstay Investments (5) Pacific Life (2) Putnam Investments (8) Seligman Funds (5) State Street Research (4) Transamerica Capital (2)
Financial Intermediaries – Pre-Sale Evergreen Investments (2) Mainstay Investments (5) JP Morgan - One Group (4) PLANCO - Hartford Director (1); Hartford Leaders (1); Hartford Putnam (2) Putnam Investments (8)
Concurrently, Dalbar named the financial service institutions that are Key Honors winners in 2004. Companies that meet industry benchmarks after one year of testing earn Dalbar Key Honors. These firms have distinguished themselves as being consistent in the high quality of customer service they provide.
Dalbar 2004 Key Honor Winners Mutual Fund Investors Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Financial Intermediaries – Post Sale Evergreen Investments
The Mutual Fund, Annuity, Life Insurance and Retirement Plan categories represent service provided to consumers of these products. The Financial Intermediary categories represent service provided to professionals who advise investors.
Dalbar, Inc., the nation’s leading financial services market research and consulting firm, is committed to raising the standards of excellence in the financial services industry. With offices in both the US and Canada, Dalbar develops standards for, and provides research, ratings, and rankings of intangible factors to the mutual fund, broker/dealer, life insurance, property and casualty, and managed account industries. They include investor behavior, customer satisfaction, service quality, communications, Internet services, and financial professional ratings.
For information contact: Kathleen Whalen Dalbar, Inc. 617-723-6400
